When a sale item you're looking for at a store is out of stock, you have two options: you can either walk away empty-handed, or you can ask the store to match the sale price on a comparable product. In many cases, they will, even if the other product is of equal or greater value than the one on sale.

For instance, during a recent visit to my local supermarket, I found that the 12-ounce can of store-brand honey roasted peanuts, on sale for $2.50, was sold out. So I asked a store employee if I could substitute the Planters 12-ounce can on sale at $3.49. No problem, he said, arranging for me to buy the brand-name product at the lower price.

Okay, so I saved just 99 cents on the brand name item, which may have been no better than the store brand one. But I did get the sweet-salty snack I was craving, which was my main goal, and in the same size and at the discounted price I wanted to pay. And who knows? Next time, instead of a low-cost food item, it could be a television or some other product for which the savings is more than, well, peanuts.

We're skeptical that this trick would work on something as high dollar-value as a television, especially since most stores will just issue you a raincheck if there's something specific on sale that they know they'll have to order more of. Even so, if you press ever so gently and let them know you're willing to spend your money right now (and that no one ever calls people back about rainchecks), you could score something even better than what you were looking for at a fantastic price. Hit the link below to read more.